


I'm Fine

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 11:01:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16407224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex gets sick, but still wants to go onstage, much to his bandmates' concern.





	I'm Fine

As soon as Alex had come offstage, he knew that something wasn’t right. He usually had a bunch of adrenaline and energy, making him happy and wanting more. This time, however, he felt worn down, and generally bad. He decided to skip partying with everyone else and went back to the bus, so he could get some rest. He took a shower, then grabbed a bottle of water before heading to his bunk, hoping to sleep whatever this was off. He fell asleep quickly, hoping that the next time he woke up, he’d be feeling better, and whatever he had would be gone.  
——-  
Unfortunately, Alex was wrong. When he woke up, it was still dark. He had a pain in his stomach that was what woke him up in the first place. He wrapped his arms around his stomach, trying his hardest to get comfortable. A couple minutes later, his stomach flipped, and he knew exactly what that meant. He bolted to the tiny bathroom and leaned over the toilet to get sick. Once he decided that he was done, he went back to his bunk, feeling even more miserable than before.  
——-  
Eventually, morning came, and Alex woke up to a sharp pain in his head. He’d woken up and gotten sick a couple more times that night, and he felt terrible. He knew if he stayed in his bed for too long, everyone would be suspicious and concerned, so he stumbled out of his bed, and into the front lounge.  
“Man, you look like shit,” Jack said, seeing his best friend.  
“Good morning to you, too,” Alex replied sarcastically.  
“Are you sick? You don’t look too good,” Jack observed.  
“I’m fine,” Alex replied.  
“Are you sure?” Jack asked, seeing right through Alex’s lie.  
“Yeah, I’m just going to take this and get some more sleep,” Alex explained, pouring himself some Dayquil.   
“Okay, whatever you say,” Jack replied. He knew that Alex could be very stubborn when he didn’t feel well, and would eventually give in.  
———  
About thirty minutes later, Alex learned that the Dayquil was a bad idea, when he was throwing it up in the bathroom. After a few minutes, he leaned up against the shower stall, feeling miserable. Whenever he got sick, it was always bad, like this was, which was very frustrating, since he was a touring musician. He took a deep breath and held his pounding head in his hands.  
“Alex are you okay?” Jack asked from the other side of the door.  
“I’m fine,” Alex lied.  
“Dude, don’t lie, we’ve been listening to you get sick the whole time you’ve been in there,” Jack argued.  
“Fine,” Alex replied. He slowly stood up and went over to the door. When Jack saw him, he was a bit taken aback. Alex looked exhausted, he was very pale, and looked generally bad.   
“Let’s get you over to the couch,” Jack said, holding his sick friend. They walked out to the front lounge, where Zack and Rian were. Jack sat Alex on the edge of the couch that the other two were sitting on, then sat himself on the floor, so he could face everyone.  
“You look terrible, Alex,” Rian stated.  
“Thanks,” Alex replied, coughing into his fist.  
“We should cancel the show tonight,” Zack suggested. Rian muttered a statement of agreement.  
“No,” Alex finally said.  
“What do you mean no? Alex, we can see how miserable you are right now,” Jack replied.  
“We’re not cancelling, I’ll be fine,” Alex argued.  
“Let’s make a deal, if your temperature is 102 or higher, we’re cancelling. If it’s 100 to 101, then we’ll cut the set short,” Rian proposed.  
“Fine,” Alex replied. He really didn’t want to cut the set at all but considering he didn’t know how he would get through ten minutes later, he agreed. Rian got the thermometer out of the sick drawer that mostly only existed for Alex. He turned it on, then gave it to Alex.  
“100.5, I guess we won’t cancel, but let’s at least cut it down to ten songs for the night,” Rian stated.  
“Alright, fine,” Alex replied, coughing again.  
“I still think him going on at all is a bad idea,” Jack stated.   
“I’ll be okay, I can do this,” Alex replied.  
“Leave it, Jack. He’s not going to take no for an answer on this, we all know that,” Zack stated.  
“A little sleep and medicine, and I’ll be all good,” Alex said with a sneeze.   
“If you say so. Let’s get you set up out here,” Jack said. Rian and Zack went to the back lounge, and Jack went to Alex’s bunk, and grabbed his pillow and blanket. He propped Alex up, since laying down would just upset his stomach more. Alex wrapped his blanket around him, trying to combat his chills. Jack gave him some medicine to help reduce his fever, help with his cough, and settle his stomach. He placed a bucket next to Alex, so he wouldn’t have to get up again if he needed to get sick. Jack really hated seeing any of his friends not feeling great, but he especially hated to see Alex like this. The two of them had a close friendship, so Jack could almost feel Alex’s pain.  
“Why don’t we put on a movie, maybe it’ll help you fall asleep,” Jack suggested.  
“Okay, sounds good to me,” Alex replied. Jack got up and set up the DVD player and turned on the TV. The menu screen for Home Alone appeared on the screen.  
“Really Jack?” Alex asked with a small smile.  
“Of course, what else would we watch?” Jack asked back.  
“I should’ve known,” Alex said, laughing a little.  
“You really should’ve. Now, let’s be quiet, it’s starting,” Jack said. He set himself up on the other couch, so Alex could have plenty of space. About twenty minutes into the movie, Alex felt his stomach lurch. He quickly sat up, catching Jack’s attention.  
“Are you alright?” Jack asked. Alex shook his head and wrapped his arms around his stomach. Jack quickly grabbed the bucket and handed it to Alex. He rubbed his friend’s back as he got sick. Eventually, Alex leaned up against the couch, looking even worse. At this point, Jack had no idea how Alex was going to get onstage that night.  
——-  
Three hours later, they were at the venue. Alex had spent most of the day asleep or getting sick. Jack had been trying to get Alex to cancel the show all day, but since Alex was so stubborn, he refused. When they got to the venue, they had to go right to soundcheck. Alex coughed quite a bit, but he never missed a note. When they were done, Alex burst into a big coughing fit, and the other three walked over to him, and Jack put his hand on Alex’s back.  
“Alex, I know we’ve asked you about this a lot today, but are you sure that you don’t want to cancel?” Rian asked.  
“Yeah, you really don’t look or sound too good,” Zack added.  
“Yes, I’m sure, how many damn times do we have to have this conversation?” he asked, rolling his eyes.  
“At least rest until the show starts. We’ll leave you alone unless you need us but go in the dressing room or bus for now,” Rian suggested.  
“Okay, I’ll do that. I’ll go to the stage entrance five minutes before we’re due onstage,” Alex replied. He turned around and walked to the dressing room. He set himself up on the couch, wrapping himself up in a blanket tightly because of his very prominent chills. He set an alarm on his phone, then fell fast asleep.  
——-  
“What’re we going to do?” Jack asked Zack and Rian. The three of them had gotten In N Out and were eating it in a different backstage area.  
“He’s clearly not going to change his mind on this,” Rian replied.  
“I’ll catch him if he passes out,” Zack said, half kidding and half serious. Jack glared at him in reply.  
“Okay, not the time. Message received,” Zack said awkwardly.   
“Listen, Jack. There’s nothing that the three of us can do that is going to change his mind at this point. We’re just as worried about him as you are, but we know that he’s already got his mind made up on this,” Rian explained, taking a bite of his burger. Jack knew they were right, but he just wished that they could convince Alex that cancelling was the best idea. He didn’t know why, but he had a bad feeling about the show that night.  
———  
Ten minutes before they were due onstage, Alex woke up to his alarm. He groaned, shutting it off. He sat it up and assessed how bad he was feeling. His head and stomach hurt, he felt cold, tired, and generally miserable. He got himself ready, coughing the whole time. When there were only five minutes left, he walked over to the stage entrance. The other three were already there, tuning their instruments. When Jack saw Alex, he grabbed his guitar and handed it to him.  
“Here you go, I tuned it up for you already,” Jack said. Alex put it on, and it seemed heavier than usual.  
“Thank you,” Alex said, sneezing.  
“Are you sure you still want to go on? It’d really be okay if we rescheduled,” Jack suggested.  
“Damn it, Jack, for the last time, I don’t want to cancel,” Alex snapped. Seconds later, the lights went down, and the four of them walked onstage. After they finished up their second song, Jack told the crowd that their set would be shorter since Alex wasn’t feeling well. People screamed their well wishes for him, and he quietly said a thank you into the microphone. When they’d finished their fifth song, Alex started to feel sick again. he took a deep breath and swallowed, hoping to make the feeling go away. Unfortunately, this didn’t work, and he felt his stomach jump. He didn’t want to get sick onstage, so he quickly ran off and set his guitar down, before finding the nearest bathroom. Back onstage, Jack saw Alex run off, and he wanted to run behind him, but he knew that he couldn’t. Rian snuck away from his drum kit to check on Alex, so Jack and Zack tried their best to keep up some banter until Rian got back.  
“So, bad news, Alex isn’t feeling well enough to come back onstage. We’ll do our best to do a few more songs without him for you, but we’ll have to call it a night after that. We’re so sorry,” Rian said once he got back onstage.  
“We’ll come back and make this up to you guys, we promise!” Jack said into his mic. The fans started to yell more well wishes for Alex, and only stopped when the three of them started to play another song. They had a lot of help from the crowd, and managed to get through a few more songs, and stopped after the ninth song of the night. When Jack went offstage, he felt concern and worry coarse through his body. Zack and Rian went to help the crew, and Jack went right over to the dressing room where Alex was. When he got in, he saw Alex laying on the couch, curled up under a blanket and shivering. He had used tissues all over his lap and looked even worse than he had right before they went on.  
“How’re you feeling, Alex?” Jack asked, walking over to his best friend,  
“I’ve been better,” Alex replied, coughing.  
“Have you been here the whole time?” Jack asked.  
“Yeah, I- “Alex cut himself off with a gag. Jack sat next to him, rubbing his back.  
“Are you going to be sick again?” Jack questioned. Alex took a deep breath, collecting himself.  
“No, but I thought I was for a second,” Alex replied.  
“Do you want to try going on the bus? You won’t have to get up anymore once we’re on it,” Jack suggested.  
“Yeah, I do,” Alex replied. Alex took off his blanket to get up but put it right back on when the cold air hit his skin. Jack helped him get up and wrap the blanket around himself, then they made their way onto the bus. He set up Alex on the couch the same way that he’d done earlier, then got some medicine, movies, and the thermometer. He handed the thermometer to Alex then read it once it was done.  
“It’s 101.2, that’s a significant amount higher than it was earlier. No more shows until you’re well again,” Jack decided.  
“No, I’ll be okay, I just-“ Alex cut himself off by bursting into another coughing fit. Jack rubbed his back until Alex’s body calmed itself down again.  
“No, Alex. If you keep playing while you’re this sick, you’re going to keep making yourself worse, and it’ll take you even longer to get better. We don’t have to fully cancel the shows, we can just reschedule them. You really need to rest up for a few days, and that’s okay. Your health should be top priority,” Jack explained.  
“I just feel really bad doing that. The kids get so excited to see us, they probably count down the days, and now we have to make them wait even more?” Alex asked.  
“Yes, I can promise you that they’ll understand. When Zack and Rian get here, we’ll contact the venues of the next three shows, and move the shows to a later date. Then, we’ll play again in a week. It’ll be okay, I promise,” Jack said, sitting next to Alex on the couch.  
“Okay, I guess you’re right. I’m sorry for making you and the others worried, and probably a little pissed off,” Alex said, sounding a bit embarrassed.  
“I was much more worried than pissed off. We just don’t want you to push yourself too hard. Your health is important to us, since you’re our friend and our lead singer. If you’re not well, we’re kind of screwed,” Jack joked.  
“Well, I appreciate the concern, and I’ll make better choices next time. I really do feel pretty awful,” Alex replied, holding his stomach.  
“Are you going to be sick again?” Jack asked. Alex shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Jack handed him a bucket, and Alex gagged over it, not actually getting sick. Once the feeling passed, he leaned back up against the couch.  
“I wouldn’t wish this on anyone else,” Alex said, looking upset. Jack saw a small tear starting to form in his best friend’s eye.  
“Alex, don’t cry, it’s all going to be okay, and I mean that. I’m going to help you feel better, along with Zack and Rian. This is going to go away, and we’ll be back to playing shows again in no time,” Jack reassured.  
“Thank you, I really hate that I get emotional whenever I get sick,” Alex replied.  
“It’s okay, Alex. Now, how does some cuddling sound to you?” Jack asked back.  
“Good, as long as you don’t mind if I get sick on you,” Alex joked.  
“If you get sick on me, you’re going to have to find a new career, because I’ll kick you out of this band,” Jack stated, making both laugh.  
“There’s that smile. Now, let’s get comfortable,” Jack suggested. Jack got under the blanket with Alex and put his arms around him.   
“Thank you, Jack,” Alex said out of nowhere.  
“No problem, man. Now, get some sleep, you really need it,” Jack replied. Not even five minutes later, Alex had drifted off to sleep. Jack was relieved that Alex was finally getting the rest he needed. Eventually, Rian and Zack came onto the bus. Jack explained what shows would be moved.  
“It’s late, we should all head to bed,” Rian said, looking at the clock. They’d been talking for about an hour about the next few days, and saw it was close to midnight.  
“You guys go on, I’m going to stay out here with Alex,” Jack replied.  
“Suit yourself,” Zack said as him and Rian got up and went back to the bunk area. Jack got as comfortable as he could on the couch next to Alex. After scrolling on his phone for a bit, he drifted off to sleep.  
——–  
Over the next five days, the three of them worked together to take care of Alex, and to help him feel better. They missed performing, since they loved it just as much as Alex did, but they all knew that Alex really needed all the rest that he was getting. After the second day, Alex could finally keep stuff down, so they had him eat a lot of soup and drink a lot of tea, so his voice wouldn’t suffer too much once they finally had a show again. On the day that they were supposed to have a show again, Alex woke up feeling pretty good. When he walked to the front of the bus, his temperature was taken, and it was 98.9, much to his excitement. On the way to the venue, the four of them spent most of the time in the back, playing video games. When they got there, they had a soundcheck that went much better than the last one they’d had. When they were done, they all huddled together, like usual.  
“We have an hour until we go on. Let’s all relax until the show. It’s going to be a great one tonight!” Jack exclaimed. They all went their separate ways, and just relaxed. When it was finally time to go on, Alex got excited. He’d missed being onstage with his best friends and was raring to go. They all met up at the stage entrance and tuned up their instruments.  
“I just want to say thank you guys for taking care of me, especially you, Jack,” Alex said. Jack had spent the most time with Alex, due to their close friendship.  
“You’re more than welcome, Alex. Now, let’s go kick some ass!” Jack exclaimed. The four of them ran onstage, finally able to do what they loved the most.

**Author's Note:**

> This story took me two hours to type up, but it’s worth it!! I hope that you guys liked this, and another will be up very soon! Thank you for reading! Lots of love, Liv


End file.
